


Lesser Known Stories: An Insanity Round Collection

by Tov01



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Comedy, Destroy Ending, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Origin Story, Prompt Fill, Synthesis Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-21 17:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1558565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tov01/pseuds/Tov01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of prompts from the Insanity Round.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lesser Known Stories

**Prompt: The lesser known stories**

  
  
Han’Gerral looked at the Reaper in the viewport, badly damaged but still no less dangerous. It had already taken out sixteen ships, and he didn’t want to think of how many more it would take down before they could take it down. If they could take it down. Suddenly, The hull of the Neema rocked violently, and the Neema’s guns, which had been firing almost non-stop since this battle began, fell silent.  
  
“What the hell was that?”  
  
“Sir, a power surge just took the forward battery!”  
  
“Damn it! We need those guns!” Han watched helplessly as the Reaper eviscerated a Turian frigate. “Tell the fleet that we need to retreat to make repairs, and to provide covering fire if they can.”  
  
“Sir, the Reaper’s turning towards us!”  
  
“Evasive maneuvers!” he barked instinctively, although he doubted the ship’s ability to outrun a Reaper. The Reaper fired, barely missing, and angled for another attack. As he stared into the red glow of the firing chamber, he knew this was the end.  
  
Suddenly explosions ripped through the back of the Reaper, forcing its shot to miss wildly. A Geth Dreadnaught had appeared from behind, shots ripping straight through the Reaper’s weakened barriers until its eyes finally went dark.  
  
The bridge was completely silent.  
  
“Sir, the- the Geth ship is asking if we need assistance with our repairs?”  
  
Gerrel looked blankly at the comm officer. Geth had just saved his ship, and now they were asking if he needed assistance. He never thought he’d see the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always liked the thought of Han'Gerral being saved by the Geth.


	2. Orgin Story

**Prompt: Origin Story**

  
  
Jen didn’t often go out on “business” for the Reds, her technical skills being too valuable to risk on the front lines. But she was no stranger to violence, and when the door opened unexpectedly, Jen’s instincts took over, and she immediately pulled her gun at the door.  
  
“Whoa! Hey, girl! It’s only me!”  
  
Jen lowered the gun only slightly, recognizing her fellow Red. “Damn it, Anthony! I thought you were out on business.”  
  
“Yeah, well, things got complicated.”  
  
Jen sighed disappointedly as she put her gun away. “Who got shot this time?”  
  
“Who said anything about being shot?” Anthony said defensively. Jen only glared. “Well, look, things got a bit heated, but that drone of yours gave us the edge to get out all right.” Anthony looked at the floor. “Well, mostly all right.”  
  
“What happened to the drone?” Silence. “Anthony, if you don’t stop breaking my toys, I’m going to stop letting you borrow them.” With a huff, Jen went back to her work.


	3. You did what?

**Prompt: You did what?**

  
  
“Damn it, Anthony! Who’d the fuck did you piss off?”  
  
Jen Shepard was not happy, as the dozen gang members laid low by her pistol fire could attest to, if they were still breathing. Anthony fired several shots of his own weapon before looking at Jen nervously.  
  
“We were just supposed to rough up a mark! How was I supposed to know that they were-“ He was interrupted by the sound of a rocket launcher hitting the back wall of the compound. “Fucking shit!”  
  
Jen crouched behind cover as she queued up her stolen sabotage program on her omni-tool. “Just be glad I’m here to pull your ass out of the fire,” she muttered as she threw the tech grenade over the barrier. The effects were almost instantaneous. The overheating rocket launcher burned into the hands on the gang member carrying it, and he dropped it with a yelp. The Reds pushed their advantage, pushing the invaders back outside until they made a hasty retreat.  
  
“That’s for messing with the Reds!” Anthony shouted gleefully. Jen was felling less than celebratory.  
  
“Those weren’t simple gang members. What did you do, Anthony?”  
  
Anthony shifted uncomfortably. “We’ll, I may have, uh, taken something that didn’t exactly – Hey!” He protested as Jen grabbed him by the arm and led him off.  
  
He was going to tell her the whole story if it killed him.


	4. In the Mako

**Prompt: In the Mako**  
  
  
Jen sulked in the gunnery’s seat of the Mako. “I still don’t see why this is necessary.”  
  
“Shepard,” Garrus called up from the driver’s seat, “that’s kind of the problem.”  
  
“This is a damn mutiny!” Shepard continued on. “I’m surprised at you Garrus. I thought Turians were supposed to be all about being good soldiers and following the chain of command.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I’ve never been a very good Turian.”  
  
Wrex laughed loudly from the co-pilot’s seat. “I knew there was a reason I could stand your stench, Vakarian!”  
  
“Thanks, uh, I think.”  
  
“I don’t like this,” Shepard half mumbled. “It’s too open.”  
  
“Would you rather we drive over every bump and-“  
  
Suddenly the ground shook. “Garrus, Move!” Shepard yelled, but it was too late. A Thresher Maw emerged not three meters away. Garrus immediately put the Mako in reverse and drove as fast as he could, Shepard firing the whole way. Unfortunately the Maw spat acid at the wheels, dissolving one of their tires. They weren’t able to just run away.  
  
“Finally, a real fight!” Wrex said, sounding far too cheerful than the situation warranted. The rest were too busy staying alive to tell him otherwise.


	5. The ten-minute elevator ride

**Prompt: The ten-minute elevator ride**  
  
  
“I would have thought that the Protheans could build faster elevators.  
  
Jennifer Shepard was still stewing over their latest meeting with the council, trying to get more help for her hunt for Saren, and the slow elevators weren’t helping her disposition any.  
  
“Considering we’re going down almost a kilometer," Garrus spoke. "I’d say we’re making good time."  
  
“I bet there are skyscrapers on Earth with faster elevators,” Shepard muttered defiantly. Garrus either didn’t hear her or decided not to respond, and so they spent the next few minutes in silence.  
  
The silence was broken by a sharp and unexpected deceleration.  
  
“This elevator is currently experiencing technical difficulties,” said Mira’s voice from the speakers. “Please stand by as…”  
  
“Yeah, screw that.” Shepard said as she turned on her Omni-tool.  
  
“Shepard, what are you doing?” Tali asked, concerned.  
  
“Getting us out of here.”  
  
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”  
  
But Shepard was already reaching for the maintenance access. “Come on! What’s the worst that can happen?”  
  
In hindsight, Shepard realized, it was fortunate that the elevator was only a few meters above the ground.


	6. Rage is a hell of an anesthetic

**Prompt: Rage is a hell of an anesthetic**  
(In Memory of Robin Sachs)  
  
  
“Bastards just keep coming,” Zaeed sighed as he shot the head off yet another Collector.  
  
“There are now fewer than twenty-thousand collectors on this station,” said the Geth next to him. “We are unlikely to significantly reduce their numbers through combat alone.” Damn Geth. Why Shepard would choose to work with it instead of throwing it out the airlock, he’d never understand.  
  
“More incoming!” yelled Garrus. Not that this surprised him. There had been ‘more incoming’ for the past thirty minutes. He fired a grenade at the group of bugs coming around the corner, and smirked in satisfaction as they fell to the ground.  
  
Suddenly he felt a searing pain in his side as one of the Collectors got a shot in. Turning to his right, he found the offender and promptly shot an unnecessarily high number of slugs into its body.  
  
“Your platform is damaged.”  
  
“Pain can wait. There’s giant bugs to kill.”


	7. One track mind

**Prompt: One track mind**  
  
  
James poked the barrel of his assault rifle at the dead body of a marauder. “These things sure are ugly.”  
  
Javik was unfazed. “The Reapers created much worse atrocities in my cycle.”  
  
“Shit, really? Worse than these things?”  
  
Javik glared in distain. “The Reapers had hundreds of years to be ‘creative’ in my time. You have not seen the worse, human.”  
  
James took a second to imagine how things could get worse. He didn’t like what he saw. “Well, that’s something to look forward to,” he muttered.  
  
Adrian Shepard looked up from his scope. “If you’re done trying to scare my Lieutenant, we got more Reaper forces incoming.”  
  
Javik hoisted his particle rifle. “Good. Let them come.”  
  
James shook his head. “Don’t you think about anything besides killing Reapers?”  
  
Javik shot off the head of a nearby husk. “It is the only topic worth thinking about, human.”


	8. Technical Difficulties

**Prompt: Technical Difficulties**

 

“Gabs, what are we going to do?”  
  
“Don’t look at me, Kenneth. I’m not going to be the one to tell Shepard that we had to make an emergency stop because SOMEONE didn’t check the heat sink manifolds.”  
  
“Come on! You can’t just-“ Kenneth stopped when he heard the swish of the door opening and the clank of booted feet.  
  
“ Shit! She’s here!”  
  
Kenneth stood stock still at his post, trying desperately to ignore the bead of sweat on his forehead as the commander stood behind him. “Anyone care to explain why we’re parked in the middle of nowhere?”  
  
“We had, uh,” Kenneth tried to choke out, “some, hem, technical… difficulties.”  
  
“Technical difficulties? Is that all I’m getting?” Kenneth glanced panickedly at Gabriella, who, in between trying to be invisible, gave him a look that screamed, “You’re on your own.”  
  
“I, uh, wouldn’t want to bore you with tech…” Shepard gave him a piercing stare, and he knew, he just knew, that somehow, she knew everything.  
  
“Please, bore me.”  
  
“… Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never try to bullshit about tech with an engineer Shep. You will lose.


	9. Modern medicine

**Prompt: Modern medicine**  
  
“Miss Lawson! He’s awake!”  
  
Adrian Shepard tried to find the source of the voice, but a sharp pain kept him from moving his head. He had no idea how he ended up on a ship’s med bay. His last memories were of fire and darkness. He was sure he had died. That Miranda was somehow involved was the only thing that made any sense.  
  
Moments later, Miranda’s face came into view. “Shepard?” Adrian tried to respond, but found a breathing tube in his way. “Shh. You have to rest. Nurse? Prepare another round of sedatives.” Adrian looked up pleadingly. He couldn’t rest. Not now. There were so many questions he had to ask. So much he had to know. But Miranda simply gave him a smile- a smile that told him, beyond all hope, that everything was going to be all right.  
  
For now, that would have to be enough.


	10. Stillness

**Prompt: Stillness**  
  
When Tali exited the AI core, Joker was still hadn’t moved from EDI’s side. He had been there every day since the crash. He looked up at her, looking worried but hopeful.  
  
“Can you fix her?”  
  
“Joker-“ Tali felt tears threatening to flow behind her mask. She had told him that she would do everything she could to fix EDI. She didn’t want to have to tell him that she couldn’t. “EDI… The AI core is damaged badly, Joker.”  
  
“But you can fix it, right Tali?”  
  
She felt the sting of tears begin to flow. Tali knew she couldn’t. Edi’s blue box was fried. That box, it was like her soul. “Joker, EDI’s blue box…” She couldn’t say it out loud. “Even if I could fix her… it wouldn’t be EDI.” For the first time since she’d known him, Joker looked absolutely terrified. “I’m… Sorry.”


	11. Reunion

**Prompt: Reunion**  
  
  
Adrian Shepard felt exhausted, but he refused to let himself sleep. The Normandy was returning today, and he wasn’t about to let his crew’s first sight be of him drooling in his wheelchair. Yet with nothing to do but stare at the Orizaba’s airlock, not sleeping was becoming progressively harder. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes for just a moment…  
  
“Wake up,” he heard Miranda say from behind. Adrian startled, belatedly realizing that he had fallen asleep. “They’re here.” Shepard looked out the window, and sure enough, there was the Normandy flying towards them. The hull looked battered, as if it was held together by nothing but duct tape and a prayer. A voice crackled over the comm.  
  
“This is Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams of the SSV Normandy, requesting permission to come aboard.”  
  
“This is Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard of the SSV Orizaba. Permission granted.” At those words applause erupted across the deck. It took several long minutes for the Normandy to dock, during which he felt as if he was going to doze off again, but he held off, until finally the airlock doors cycled open.  
  
What looked like half the crew was waiting on the other side. “Shepard!” they cried repeatedly as they tried to jam their way through the airlock. Shepard began to silently laugh at the display as his mother, clearly not expecting this many people, tried to sort out the mess.  
  
A moment later he saw a flash of blue pass through the masses and materialize in front of him. Liara. Shepard felt a lump in his throat. It was one thing hear that the Normandy had survived, and quite another to see Liara standing in front of him.  
  
Liara buried her head in his shoulder. “I was so worried I’d never see you again.”  
  
“I made a promise, didn’t I?” he said weakly.  
  
Liara nodded tearfully into his shoulder, remembering which promise he meant. He promised to always come back.  
  
And he did.


	12. Grounded/Above me pay grade

**Prompt: Grounded**

**Prompt: Above my pay grade**  
  
  
“Of all the planets we could have crashed on,” James Vega exclaimed, staring at the mammoth animal in the distance, “It had to be the one with dinosaurs.”  
  
“I don’t believe that is technically a dinosaur,” EDI said from behind her. Vega chose to ignore that. He knew a dinosaur when he saw one.  
  
“This shit’s all above my pay grade. First we sprout synthetic parts from our asses, and now this.”  
  
“Perhaps you can request a pay increase once we get back in contact with the alliance.”  
  
“Heh, I’m sure we’ve all earned a cushy retirement after all we’ve done.” He tried to sound hopeful, but in truth he wasn’t so sure. It had been a week since the crash, and they still had no idea where they were or what happened. The QEC was still dead, although the engineers still insisted they could get it back up and running. But even if they could, there would still have to be someone on the other end to talk to. There were a lot of unknowns.  
  
EDI put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a tentative, reassuring smile. James realized that he must have let his worries show, but that thought disappeared when he glanced at the horizon and saw that the dinosaur was starting to get closer. “Now come on. We better get out of here before that thing gets hungry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the dinosaurs: Before ME3 came out, I was massively spoiled by the spoiler thread on Something Awful. Their inside source once compared the planet the Normandy crashes on to Jurassic Park, and the two places have been linked in my minds ever since.


	13. If only in my dreams

**Prompt: If only in my dreams**  
  
Garrus smirked in amusement as Jennifer drained yet another glass. “Had enough?”  
  
“You know me. Nothing short of Ryncol will bring me down.”  
  
“Or Batarian bartenders,” Garrus added, getting a small chuckle from Shepard.  
  
“Yeah, them too.” Shepard reached for the bottle on the end table, but misjudged the distance, and slid off the chair.  
  
“Are you all right?” Garrus asked as he moved to help her to her feet. Shepard waved him off.  
  
“No, I’m fine.” Quietly she added. “The world just won’t stop spinning.”  
  
Garrus smirked as he sat back down. “Yeah, I heard that. I think you had enough.” Shepard looked up, pouting at first, but quickly breaking into a smile.  
  
“You’re no fun!”  
  
“I think you’ll find I can be a lot of fun.”  
  
Shepard drunkenly climbed into his lap, a hungry look in her eyes. “Let’s test that, shall we?” she said, and pulled him into a kiss.  


* * *

  
Garrus woke up expecting to find Shepard next to him, but as with every night since the Battle for Earth, he found himself alone.


	14. You're in my spot

**Prompt: You’re In My Spot:**  
  
Joker fumed silently as he entered the Normandy airlock. Ever since Shepard surrendered the Normandy, every day has been nothing but a pain in the ass. Shepard in custody, forced to watch as they take her girl apart…  
  
…And to top it all off, someone was in his seat.  
  
“What are you doing?” he demanded, huffing indignantly.  
  
The young technician looked at him in confusion. “What?” Joker stared at her for a few seconds before she recognized him. “Oh, Lieutenant Moreau! Good thing you’re here. I’m trying to preform diagnostics, and I need EDI to-“  
  
“You’re in my chair,” he interrupted impatiently.  
  
“What?” she asked again.  
  
“My seat! You’re in it!” Joker rubbed his temple as the technician realized what he was saying and sheepishly vacated the chair. This was definitely going to be another pain-in-the-ass day.


	15. Cripples, bastards, and broken things

**Prompt: Cripples, bastards, and broken things**  
  
Adrian woke up with a start. It was another nightmare, one of fire and death that was becoming far too common. He shook his head, trying to dispel the images that refused to go away. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now. Even if it is was… What time was it? He looked at the clock. Two thirty. No, not even if it was two thirty in the morning. He sat up, fumbling in the dark for his prosthetic leg, finding that it had fallen between the bed and the nightstand.  
  
The images still haunted him even as he attached his limb. Akuze. Virmire. Alchera. Tuchanka... The Crucible. Death seemed to follow him everywhere. Some days, he wonders if perhaps it wouldn’t be better if-  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by an arm snaking across his waist. He hadn’t even noticed Liara waking. “Can’t sleep?” she asked.  
  
Adrian’s hesitated for far too long before working up the will to speak. “Yeah…,” he finally managed to say. Liara molded herself tighter into his body. She didn’t need to ask why.


	16. Whiskey and Regret/The Day the Reapers Died

**Prompt: Whiskey and Regret**  
  
The Day the Reapers Died  
  
And they were singing:  
Bye bye, Mister Synthetic Life  
Put the Crucible to the Citadel but the Citadel lies  
And good old Shep drinking Ryncol and rye  
Singing “This will be the day that I die.  
This will be the day that I die.”


	17. Here there be dragons

**Prompt: Here there be dragons**  
  
“No, this isn’t right.”  
  
Garrus looked down from the gunnery seat of the Mako, but all he could see was the back of Shepard’s head. “What’s wrong?” he asked.  
  
“This terrain doesn’t match this map at all.”  
  
Kaidan leaned forward from the co-pilot chair. “Is it really that bad? I thought the Normandy scanned this area thoroughly.”  
  
“Not over here, apparently,” Shepard retorted. “This part of the map is worse than useless. They might as well have just put a big label on the map saying ‘Here be dragons’!”  
  
“Dragons?” Garrus asked, confused. Shepard turned to reply, but stopped when a low, deep noise rumbled through the Mako. Suddenly all the color left her face. “What was that?” Kaidan asked, but Shepard only tightened the grip on the controls.  
  
“No,” she whispered. “No no no no no.” With no warning the Mako shot forward, throwing them back into their seats. Kaidan opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but the ground behind them exploded before he could get the first word out. Garrus struggled to bring the gun to bear on the newest threat. “And of _course_ the planet has a damn THREASHER MAW!”


	18. Not this day

**Prompt: Not this day**  
  
  
“We need immediate evac! I repeat, we’re being overrun by Cerberus forces and need immediate evac!”  
  
“Were the fuck are they all coming from!”  
  
Garbled static came from the radio.  
  
“What are they saying?”  
  
“Repeat that.”  
  
“ _We... –pproaching your posi- … -TA five minutes._ ”  
  
“Copy that. You here that! We just have to hold out for five more minutes!”  
  
An Atlas rocket soared over their heads into a nearby building.  
  
“I don’t think we can last that long!”  
  
“I’m out of clips!”  
  
“Here!”  
  
“How many extras do we have back there?”  
  
“… Not enough.”  
  
“Damn!”  
  
“Listen, if we don’t make it…”  
  
Bilal stared at the Cerberus forces across the street. _No. Not today._  
  
“Bilal! What are you doing!“  
  
“GO!” he yelled, spraying his assault rifle. “I’m over here, Cerberus Bastards!”  
  
“What the hell is he doing!”  
  
“Damn fool’s trying to save our asses!”  
  
The radio crackled back to life. “ _We are almos- … your position. Stand by._ ” Seconds later, the shuttle flew overhead and landed nearby. The soldiers inside waved frantically for them to enter.  
  
“No, we can’t just leave-“ He looked back to see the Atlas standing over Bilal’s broken body. “…Damn it.”


	19. Traveling the busy hyperlanes

**Prompt: Traveling the busy hyperlanes**  
  
  
“I don’t know how you talked me into this.” Adrian Shepard said as he struggled to put on his tie.  
  
Liara shot Shepard a dirty look. “This is an important event!”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“After ten years of work, we’ve finally repaired one of the mass relays!”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“People are pouring in from over two-hundred light-years just to see this!”  
  
“I know!”  
  
“So why are you so reluctant to go?”  
  
“They’ll want me to make a speech.”  
  
Liara sighed. “For someone who doesn’t like making speeches, you certainly make a lot of them.”  
  
“One of the necessary evils of the job.” Shepard sighed and sat down, giving up on the unruly tie. “I just wish…” Wished that EDI could be here. Wished that the Geth did not have to have died. Wished that he had made a different choice up on the Citadel. Ten years, and Adrian still couldn’t quite convince himself that he had made the right choice.  
  
Liara sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. “I know.”


	20. New beginnings

**Prompt: New beginnings**  
  
  
“So we really did it” Tali said as she watched a ship disappear through a Mass Relay for the first time in ten years.  
  
“Good to know we didn’t make the trip for nothing,” Garrus said from close beside her.  
  
“You always do expect the worse,” Tali laughed, to which Garrus just shrugged. “It’s amazing, though,” Tali went on. "They say that we might be able to repair most of the network within the next few decades, now that we’re not pounding at them like blind Pyjaks.”  
  
“Who knows,” Garrus said, “maybe you’ll see your homeworld again soon.”  
  
Tali reached an arm around his waist. “I don’t know. I think I’m fine right here with you.”


	21. Burned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place about ten years after the Battle for Earth

**Prompt: Burned**  
  
“Daddy, I’m hungry!”  
  
Adrian Shepard looked down from the grill to see his daughter looking up at him with huge, sad eyes. Shepard could never resist that look, and his daughter knew it. “It’ll be ready soon, Nezzy.”  
  
“But I’m hungry now!” Benezia insisted, pouting.  
  
“Why don’t you go see if mommy has anything ready.” In response, Benezia immediately made the most disgusted face she could manage. Shepard risked a glanced at Liara, and saw her setting out the vegetable tray. “Vegetable, huh?”  
  
“Bleh!”  
  
Shepard glanced at the burgers to make sure they weren’t ready to flip. They weren’t. “I thought we had chips around here somewhere.”  
  
“They’re gone!”  
  
“What happened to them?” Shepard asked, curious.  
  
“Uncle James ate them!”  
  
“Really? All by himself?” Benezia looked down guiltily. “Did you help?”  
  
“…Maybe?”  
  
Shepard chuckled and patted his daughter on the head. “Then I suppose you can wait just a few more minutes for your burger, then.”  
  
“But-!”  
  
“Hey, look who’s here!” he said, pointing to the back door.  
  
“Eezo!” Benezia screamed, running to tackle Jack’s pet varren, her hunger apparently forgotten. Shepard chuckled softly to himself as he set to work flipping the burger patties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, it kind of got away from the original prompt. By about a lot. My original thinking was that Shepard would burn the patties while distracted, but in the end, I decided not to.


	22. Joker the Red Nosed Pilot

**Prompt: Joker the red-nosed pilot**  
  
  
“Joker the red-nosed pilot  
Has some very creaky bones  
And if you ever saw him  
You would even say they groaned.  
All of the other pilots  
Would always laugh and call him names  
They’d never let poor Joker  
Join in any pilot games.  
  
Then one foggy Christmas eve  
Shepard came to say,  
‘Joker with your skills so bright,  
Won’t you guide my ship tonight?’  
  
Then all the people loved him  
And they shouted out with glee,  
‘Joker the red-nosed pilot  
You’ll go down in history!”  


* * *

  
“Well, that’s certainly… inspiring,” Samantha offered, uncertain. She looked around at the other party goers and saw similar looks of either confusion or bemusement.  
  
“I certainly hope so!” Joker said. “I spend a whole twenty minutes working on that!”  
  
"That much is obvious," Javik muttered under his breath.  
  
"Hey, I may be drunk, but I'm not deaf!"  
  
Javik sent Shepard a look, clearly begging permission to throw the pilot out the airlock. Shepard thought it prudent to intervene. "Who want's eggnog!"


	23. This never happened

**Prompt: This never happened**

Adrian had gotten halfway through his bedroom before he noticed that all the pillows were missing from the bed. He stared dumbly at it for a moment, before calling out, “Liara?”

“Yes?” came the muffled reply from behind her office door.

“You wouldn’t happen to be, uh, washing the pillow cases, would you?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Uh, no reason,” Shepard muttered. He thought he heard a disbelieving huff coming from the office, but Liara didn’t come out to investigate. Shepard walked out of the bedroom and headed for the laundry, hoping to find the pillows before Liara noticed, but the sound of giggling from Benezia’s room attracted his attention. He changed directions and walked to her room, a thought having occurred to him.

“Benezia,” he called, knocking on her half-open door. The laughing had stopped in an instant, only to resume again a moment later.

“Daddy, shh! I’m hiding,” She giggled. Adrian poked his head into the room, and saw the largest pillow fort he had ever seen. What must have been every pillow in the house stretched from one wall to the other. Benezia’s rocking chair stood in the center like a tower, where several stuffed animal sentinels looked out into the rest of the room. Shepard was impressed that she managed to put all this together without him noticing sooner. It would almost be a shame to tear it all down.

“Adrian, what happened to the pillows?” he heard Liara ask from across the hall. Shepard put a finger to his lip. “I didn’t see anything,” he said mischievously, to Benezia’s giddy approval, and he closed the door.


End file.
